Arizona Employer Sanctions Law: Legal Arizona Workers Act

The Arizona Employer Sanctions Law, House Bill 2779, was signed into law on July 2, 2007 and went into effect on January 1, 2008. Its passage was an attempt to prevent at the state level unauthorized employment of aliens, in light of the failure of comprehensive immigration reform in Washington. Recognizing that plentiful jobs is a chief attraction to unauthorized immigration, House Bill 2779 provided for:

• A new crime of aggravated identity theft of a real or a fictitious person with the intent to obtain employment (added as ARS Section 13-2009.3)(a class 3 felony);
• New civil sections added as ARS Sections 23-211 to 23-214 and providing for employer sanctions as follows;
• A prohibition against intentional or knowing employment of an unauthorized alien by any employer, which includes any individual or type of organization that transacts business in the state and has a license from any agency in the state and employs one or more individuals who perform employment services in the state. It also includes self employed persons, the state, any subdivision of the State;
• Authorization and a mandate to the Attorney General or the County Attorney to investigate a complaint of unauthorized employment by communicating with the federal immigration authorities, and if the complaint is not frivolous, communication with the federal authorities to report the alien, and with local law enforcement and the local county attorney, to commence an action in the Superior Court against the employer;
• Expedited court consideration of the action;
• Upon a finding of unauthorized employment, knowing or intentional, a court order requiring cessation;
• A period of probation for offending employers, which is longer if the employment was intentional (5 years) and not just knowing (3 years), during which the employer must file quarterly reports to the Court of new hires at the location of the unauthorized employment;
• A mandatory suspension by court order of all licenses held by the employer needed for operating at the location of the unauthorized employment, unless the employer files within 3 days with the county attorney an affidavit stating that the employer has terminated the employment of all unauthorized aliens and that the employer will not intentionally or knowingly employ an unauthorized alien. If no license is required to operate at the specific location but one or more licenses is needed generally, then suspending those licenses at the principal place of business of the employer, including as appropriate, the corporate charter or authorization to do business in the State;
• Discretionary (if knowing) or mandatory (if intentional) suspension of such licenses up to a maximum of ten days as an additional penalty;
• Mandatory permanent revocation of all such licenses for a second offense committed during the probationary period.
• Mandatory use of E-Verify (formerly the Basic Employment Verification Pilot) after December 31, 2007 by all Arizona employers for new hires, which is also an affirmative defense to a complaint of unauthorized employment.

Court challenges were made and overruled by state and federal courts, though the legal landscape nationally is less clear, as related in the employer sanctions litigation update page of Messing Law Offices.

At Messing Law Offices, we provide high quality legal services and expertise to families, working men and women, and businesses. If you have a concern in the areas of family based immigration, business based immigration, employment based immigration, or naturalization and you are seeking the help of an experienced immigration lawyer, call Messing Law Offices for professional Arizona immigration attorney assistance.